Conduit Sues Tether Over Frozen $2.8M in USDt Without Explanation
Cross-border payments platform Conduit Technology has filed a lawsuit against stablecoin issuer Tether, alleging that the company froze $2.76 million in USDt (USDT) without justification in September 2025. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims that Tether froze funds to which it had no legal claim, significantly impacting Conduit’s business. Conduit began holding USDt in its digital treasury wallet in May 2025, and the entire amount was frozen by Tether in September 2025 with no explanation provided.
The lawsuit asserts that the freezing of funds was linked to a Brazilian federal police investigation into financial intermediary Bull Intermediação de Negócios and Onix, launched in 2024. Tether allegedly identified Conduit’s treasury wallet as associated with these companies based on its own criteria and froze the funds on September 24, 2025. Despite repeated requests from Conduit to unfreeze the funds, Tether had not done so as of the filing date.
Conduit’s complaint argues that Tether is not permitted to seize funds from businesses solely because they chose to store money in USDt. The lawsuit follows another recent case where two Thai nationals sued Tether for freezing $42.4 million in USDt following a request from US Homeland Security Investigations. Cointelegraph reached out to Tether for comment but did not receive an immediate response.